The Philippines is proving to be an emerging safe place for transgender folks . Despite daily encounters with discrimination, transpersons here are recently moving into positions high on the social hierarchy. How can this happen in a country that is highly religious and does not enforce an anti-discrimination law? To find out, I travelled through the country to meet a politician, a bank manager and a scholar– all transwomen – and learned of their stories and opinions of how the Philippines is leading the charge in overcoming transphobia.

The Philippines is proving to be an emerging safe place for transgender folks . Despite daily encounters with discrimination, transpersons here are recently moving into positions high on the social hierarchy. How can this happen in a country that is highly religious and does not enforce an anti-discrimination law? To find out, I travelled through the country to meet a politician, a bank manager and a scholar– all transwomen – and learned of their stories and opinions of how the Philippines is leading the charge in overcoming transphobia.